IPB Expert: Indonesia’s Potential Plants are Threatened to be Claimed by Neighboring Countries
As many as 50 percent of species are currently located in the tropical rain forest, a source of medicinal plants and raw materials. Plants that are in the tropical regions of plant origin in natural forests or cultivated plants. This phenomenon is supposed to make the Indonesian people appreciate the richness of plant species in the tropics as sovereignty and property rights belonging to Indonesia, which is adapted to the biological diversity convention world.
Indonesia has the potential wealth of traditional medicine which is expressed with ethnic diversity, which then becomes the knowledge of traditional medicine systems and the use of medicinal plants for health. Until now, of about 90,000 species of plants that grow in Indonesia, identified 9600 medicinal use, with various formulas and indicated to have utility for the treatment or functional vegetables. Most of the medicinal plants are still wild plants in the woods and have not been cultivated.
“It is important to realize that time is a threat to the recognition of existing plants in Indonesia. This threat of neighboring countries claiming these plants towards these kinds of plants and crops as Indonesia’s potential as our sovereignty and property rights is a matter that must be taken concern. Some species are considered potential in tropical regions in Indonesia are bamboo, orchids, and most importantly is a medicinal plant as a source of raw material treatment, “said Prof. Dr. Ir. Sandra Arifin Aziz, Professor of Ecophysiology Faculty of Agriculture, IPB University (IPB).
According to him, there are some weaknesses that need to be addressed by stakeholders in maintaining the biological richness of Indonesia. There is currently no Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) cultivation, limited availability of plant material and processing technology is generally still traditional and unhygienic, make a lot of medicinal plants has not been cultivated. It is caused by a lack of awareness in the techniques of cultivation and post harvest handling standardized so that the local potential of medicinal plants is not utilized properly.
According to Prof. Sandra, medicinal plants was instrumental in providing standardized quality of sustainable raw materials. “SOP cultivation of medicinal plants are needed for a variety of medicinal plants due to the peculiarities of each species of medicinal plants. Standardized preparation in raw drug materials are required as a result of various diseases which are found for example infectious diseases, non-infectious and degenerative exist at present and in the future, “he said. (AVR)
